Our #1 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men’s lacrosse (12-1) host the Albany Great Danes (10-7, RPI #36) this Sunday at 5:00 (ESPNU). The Great Danes beat the Sacred Heart Pioneers, 13-7, in the NCAA play-in game.

The Opponent

Albany is the America East Conference champion and on a 5-game win streak going into their game with the Irish. They only have one common opponent with the Irish, with the Great Danes losing to Virginia 10-16. In that game, the teams were tied 3-3 at the half before Virginia blew the game open. Albany stars Silas Richmond and Jake Piseno combined for 9 goals in that match.

Albany has no ranked wins and holds losses to Colgate, Penn, Drexel, UMass, Bryant, Yale and the Virginia game mentioned above. Their strength-of-record is 37th, right in the middle of Division 1.

We have three players to watch in this game.  First is their leading goal scorer, Silas Richmond.  He is 6’4″ sophomore attackman who scores in bunches.  He has 45 goals to his name this season.  We also note freshman goalie Landon Whitney, who hails from our neck of the woods in Atlanta. He wrestled the job from incumbent and Haudenosaunee national team member Jack VanValkenburgh.

Of course, the big name going into Sunday’s game will be All-American LSM Jake Piseno.  Piseno has a remarkable 13 goals and 6 assists from the LSM position, and an incredible FORTY-THREE caused turnovers. He is an A+ ball handler and his go-to move on defense is the over-the-head check. He has a great ability to sniff out a poorly protected stick.

Lastly, Notre Dame’s history with Albany in the NCAA Tournament includes what is considered one of the greatest lacrosse games ever played.  In 2014, the then-#6 Fighting Irish faced the Thompson brothers in a quarterfinal match at Shuart Stadium.  The Matt Kavanagh goal to win in OT solidified his “Matty Ice” reputation.  The following year the teams met in the quarterfinal again, this time treating the fans to the epic Matt Landis vs. Lyle Thompson battle.

Our Three Questions

The Irish will understand where the danger areas are. Albany gets its energy from bold overhead checks and wild shots. Don’t get caught up in the silliness and the game will be fine. Let Albany define the tone, and it will be a hard day.

  1. Protect your stick! Everyone knows Piseno will be hunting any dangling stick. It will be important for the Irish midfielders who like to carry one-handed to recognize what is coming and protect accordingly.
  2. Win the possession battle: The Albany faceoff unit is pretty good.  So is Notre Dame’s.  The key here is not to let them string wins together and get on a run.  The Irish are efficient enough to blunt any scoring run provided they get the ball.
  3. The silliness is coming! Albany enjoys the crazy shots.  BTB, between the legs, aggressive dives, etc. are all part of their arsenal. These aren’t high percentage efforts, but the Great Danes draw a lot of energy from them when they succeed. It’s just as important to the Irish to not get drawn into their style of play. The temptation will be there, don’t get sucked in!

The Notre Dame efficiency and depth should be more than enough to prevail in the game, but the boys have to drown out the noise. Their #1 ranking, Jake Piseno’s reputation, and the playground Albany style will be huge potential distractions that can derail the Irish effort.  So long as the boys stay focused and keep doing what they’ve been doing all season, they should meet with success.

WLax

The Notre Dame women’s team handled their first round matchup with Coastal Carolina this afternoon by a massive 24-6 score. Tewaaraton finalist Jackie Wolak had 2 goals and 9 assists to lead the Irish.

**Also, please take a moment to listen to our friends and colleagues Drew Brennan and David Brogan as they discuss Notre Dame in the NCAA tournament in the Exit 77 podcast!

#GoIrish

 

ND-ATL 2.0